Letter to Congressional
Leaders on the Proposed Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987

March 1, 1988

DearXXXXX:

I
am writing to advise you of my deep concern with the ``Civil Rights Restoration
Act'' (S. 557), also called the ``Grove City'' bill, which the House
is scheduled to consider shortly. I will veto the bill if it is presented to me
in its current form.

Preservation
of the civil rights of Americans is an important function of government. In the
area directly affected by the Grove City decision of the Supreme
Court -- education -- my Administration has supported the effort to end
discrimination against women, such as in collegiate athletics. In this and
other areas, we remain committed to the effort to eradicate invidious
discrimination in American society.

Unfortunately,
the Grove
City bill dramatically expands the scope of Federal jurisdiction
over State and local governments and the private sector, from churches and
synagogues to farmers, grocery stores, and businesses of all sizes. It diminishes
the freedom of the private citizen to order his or her life and unnecessarily
imposes the heavy burden of compliance with extensive Federal regulations and
paperwork on many elements of American society.

The
bill poses a particular threat to religious liberty. It interferes with the
free exercise of religion by failing to protect the religious tenets of schools
closely identified with religious organizations. Further, the bill establishes
unprecedented and pervasive Federal regulation of entire churches and
synagogues whenever any one of their many activities, such as a program to
provide hot meals for the elderly, receives any Federal assistance. Moreover,
and in further contrast to pre-Grove City coverage, entire private elementary
and secondary school systems, including religious systems, will be covered if
just one school in such a private system receives Federal aid.

I
regret that the Members of the House of Representatives were not given the
opportunity to consider and solve these and the many other problems with the
bill through the normal process of committee consideration. I urge the House to
correct these deficiencies.

Sincerely,

Ronald
Reagan

Note: Identical letters
were sent to Jim Wright, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Robert H.
Michel, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; and Representative F.
James Sensenbrenner, Jr., of Wisconsin. The letter was released by the Office
of the Press Secretary on March 2.